Shobu Kirifuda is the first and longest appearing central protagonist of the anime and manga series.

He was replaced by his younger brother, Katta Kirifuda in the Victory and Versus Saga and later on, his nephew Joe Kirifuda in the new generation.

Years before Katta's dueling era, he disappeared in the climax of a war against Adam without any memories of Duel Masters. He eventually returned in the Versus Saga to assist his brother under the shadows and later on his nephew in certain circumstances as a recurring character of the series.

Contents

Appearance

Shobu was a young boy with black hair that swept backward and black eyes. His appearance is noted to be similar to his father, Shori Kirifuda. Even his younger brother, Katta Kirifuda shares some of his appearances(except for hairstyle, hair color and eyes). When the season progresses, he grown a bit taller and more mature and in his final appearance in his story saga, he is close to his younger brother Katta's current age appearance of 14.

His initial outfit consist of a long-sleeved purple shirt, light brown pants and knee high boots before replacing his shirt with a short sleeve one. He later wears an orange shirt with blue linings. He wears a deck belt on his waist. He lost his deck belt in the collapsing tower when he defeated Adam and fell into the sea. It was later retrieved by the surviving duelists after the war.

Shobu's casual outfit in the National Tournament

As an adult in his early 20s, he has a noticeable growth spurt, standing even taller than Katta when they were reunited. He also has a more mature appearance, even though some of it does not change. In the beginning, he wears an eye patch that covers his right eye. He no longer wears it when he was watching the semi-finals match of the national tournament. Even though he was no longer in the World of Duel Masters due to the events in Star Cross, his current appearance was still recognizable by a few, shown when Kojiro Sasaki was surprised to see him in the tournament stadium and Benny Haha recognizing him before collapsing after Shobu knocks him down.

His casual outfit consist of a long sleeve red shirt with white outlines, blue wristbands, light brown trousers and brown shoes, similar to his previous outfits in his youth. He dons a white coat in several occasions. He attaches his deck case on the left side of his waist. In the opening sequence in the Versus Revolution season, he wears a cloak in a similar way as his father. When he was observing the battle of Katta and Team Hamukatsu against Basara and Dormageddon X, Forbidden Armageddon, he wears a black formal attire. He has became much taller and almost resembles Shori in his era during the time gap.

Personality

Shobu loves to duel more than anything, especially with his favorite card, the Bolshack Dragon. Shobu keeps a positive attitude throughout the season, insisting on dueling for fun as opposed to simply winning. When his friends are in danger, he fights to protect them and can get serious in duels. Like Katta, he was able to hear the voices of the cards, even though he was afraid of them at first. He also forms friendly relationships with the creature spirits he partners with, even protecting them. At certain points, duels that involve creatures being materialized into the real world and major destruction, he was left frightened and in certain points, traumatized by the aftermaths.

In the Versus season as an adult, he still retains his calm and cheeky attitude towards his brother Katta despite being serious due to his years of absence. He sometimes has no trouble in pointing out and poking on Katta's weaknesses or making crude jokes in front of him, much to Katta's annoyance. He still regardless loves his brother, shown in a childhood flashback when he witnessed Katta in a vegetative state and shedding tears. He even gives Raging Dragon Lord to Katta at the young age before his departure, in which the card later turns into 3 psychic creatures and evolves to Gaial King Dragon, Raging Dragon Lord years after his disappearance. He even went all the way to watch over Katta after regaining his memories and helped him when the situation calls, even personally watching Katta's match against Gyou in the national tournament, despite the risk of his identity being known and exposed by others. His trust towards Katta was great to the extent that he believes that Katta will end Dormageddon X, even though the Armegeddon creature spirit was on a crash course to Earth.

Despite not being as strong as before, he was still capable of holding himself out when needed and have utmost confidence in his abilities. His dueling skills are still considered as powerful, in which Katta even noted on. As an adult, he was quite intelligent in many areas, as he was able to track Katta's progress in the Duel Masters World and the National Tournament, noting on Katta's potentialrivals and their strengths. He is capable of hacking, as he manage to change Katta's duel profile for the regional tournament. His perception ability also improved, as he was able to detect Gyou's actions and guessed out his true intentions in just one look, allowing him to think and act one step ahead. During the events when Dokindam X, The Legendary Forbidden was released by Basara and had witnessed the events himself, he even prepared a card and challenges for Katta as a measure to protect his brother from dangers. His capabilities and knowledge about the Duel Masters World makes him a reliable and powerful ally of Katta and his friends.

One of the most distinct trait is that he did not want anyone to get hurt or die in a duel. Being from an era of seemingly never-ending conflict to protect the future of Duel Masters, Shobu treasures the joys of life and living. Like most members of his linage, he holds a high value of life and living, even going as far as to teach Adam, who attempts to drown the world the value of living and manages to control himself not to kill Zakira in a true duel despite the latter being responsible for most tragedies that his friends and other duelists had experienced. This trait was still dominant even as an adult when he knocked Benny Haha down to prevent the remaining finalists from getting hurt and observing dangerous enemeis. He even trust that Katta was able to make Basara realize the error of his ways and learn the meaning of life. He's also a forgiving and understanding individual, being able to reach out to others and forgiving one's misdoings.

He dotes his nephew Joe Kirifuda, visiting him when he have the chance despite his busy schedule at work. This was attributed to being unable to spend time with Katta in most of his childhood, therefore making up for lost time together with his family. He also gives notes and guidance to Joe in terms of dueling in place of Katta.

Anime

Background

Young Shobu witnessing Katta's condition after birth

Shobu Kirifuda is the son of the legendary duelist, Shori Kirifuda. When he was young, he learned how to duel from his father. Shobu's goal is to meet his father again. He wants to become the best duelist in the whole world and in doing so, be the best at what he truly loves. When Shobu was around 7, he took a look at his newborn younger brother Katta Kirifuda, elated to be an older brother. However, upon learning from his father that Katta was in a persistent vegetative state, Shobu shed tears of sadness and promised that he will be a good brother once Katta wakes up (ironically, he ended up missing in most of Katta's childhood).

Shobu won his first Duel Masters Invitational Junior Circuit Tournament against Joe Sayonji. After he just won this tournament he challenged by Knight at Knight's JDC for his first real Kaijudo duel. He lost this duel to Knight but still he was able to show his power of Kaijudo to Knight. And that was all what Knight wanted to see.

He later went to the Temple with the offer of The Master to duel and defeat Hakuoh and on his way to defeat Hakuoh he defeated 50 temple duelists and also he had to face The White Soldiers. One of them was his own friend Mimi. He got defeated once by Mikuni but then he returned and defeated them all and then went to duel with Hakuoh and found out that he was being controlled by Master and in order to help him he has to defeat him in a duel. He then defeated him and won The Temple Tournament.

Shobu then goes on his quest for becoming a True Kaijudo Duelist towards the Sacred Lands. In his way he learns all five civilizations and also defeats the members of P.L.O.O.P.. He also manages to save both worlds with the help of all his friends and his father as well by defeating the boss of the P.L.O.O.P. army and sealing all five gates of all the civilizations. He then became a True Kaijudo Duelist.

After becoming a True Kaijudo Duelist he continued training together with his friends with Dr. Root for 3 years. They later showed up at a local tournament and got entry into the Battle Arena Tournament. In this tournament he defeated the boss of the Black Soldiers in the qualifying matches. In the final matches he wanted to duel against Hakuoh but found out about the dangerous plots of Yumama who was controlled by Zakira. He then found out that Zakira and his followers (the Fua Duelists) are after the Awakening Cards and that they have brainwashed Hakuoh.

Shobu goes a quest to find and defeat Zakira. On his journey he got accompanied by Rekuta and also Potman, who helped him develop new dueling skills and teaching him about the Awakening Cards. Shobu was able to defeat many members of the Fua Duelists and also discovering their plan to turn Hakuoh into one their members in a ritual to become "White".

Shobu and friends managed to find the Fua Castle and attempt to stop their plans. They defeat many other Fua Duelist members but are overwhelmed. They were unable to stop the ritual and Hakuoh was turned into (W) White. While it was already too late to stop the ritual, Shobu did not gave up and challenged Zakira where he found out about the full extent of Zakira's plan. He also learns of a terrible revelation about his father being killed over the Great Spirit of Duel Masters which is now split between the Awakening Cards. Any traces of Shori has not been found in over 3 years.

Despite knowing and this and being under the threat of the Judgment Ball, Shobu continues to duel. While he lost the duel to Zakira he was saved by Potman who sacrificed himself to the Judgment Ball. Shobu managed to survive but lost his Awakening Cards to Zakira, his best friend Hakuoh and Potman, one of his mentors.

Shobu for his love to dueling and his father's last teachings of never to give up, return with his friends to Duel Island. He meets new duelist learns new dueling skills by facing tough opponents and made new rival Jura. He also found Hakuoh on his journey but he is no longer a friend only a fierce rival. In the end, he found out that there is a new enemy awaiting for him who could help him get to Zakira once again. He also got a new deck from his father. Shobu did not want to edit this deck much because this deck was like a keepsake from his father and in the end, Shobu lost against Hakuoh with this deck because he did not believe in himself or the deck but believed in his father only.

Shobu and his friends found out about the new enemy Professor March and his followers and were invited to a tournament as Dr. Root was kidnapped by them. Shobu and his friends faced the fierce followers of Professor March and saved Dr. Root. Shobu also lost many duels in a row with the deck of his father but then finally Mimi helped him realize the things he was missing and so he edited the deck of his father but before he could win the duel with that deck he fell into an underground cave and found his fathers old deck and with that deck, he built his own deck using the new cards in it. After winning with this deck Shobu's Bolshack was transformed into Bolshack Yamato Dragon. He then finally found out after 4 years that his father was alive but has to hide to found out more about Zakira. Shobu and his friends also witnessed and experienced the power of new God cards. Now that Shobu has become even stronger he tries to defeat the rest of the Professor March's followers and finds out that Professor March actually wanted to manipulate the creature with the power of Duel Spirits and with the power of the creatures he would then take over the world. In the end, Shobu has the last Duel Spirit and duels against Professor March and defeats him in an epic duel.

Shobu got the new power of NEX and tries to stop Zakira by defeating him because he finally got his hands on Duel Masters Proof. On his way, Shobu faces Hakuoh whose is now standing before him as White. Shobu got defeated by Hakuoh but in the end, Hakuoh was able to revert to his normal personality and gives Shobu a new deck. Now with the new deck, Shobu was still having a hard time as he got defeated by Zakira and Yu. But Shobu improved the new deck and his skills with Bucketman's guidance and defeated Yu. later Shobu discovered his fathers recent deck which is a very advance Samurai dragon deck. But Shobu later found out that his father was defeated with this deck.

Shobu once again wanted to duel against the rest of the Fua Duelist who were in his way but this time, he knew that it will be wrong to do the same mistake again. So he further improved his father's deck to an ultimate level where even Zakira would be overwhelmed. He put in his new Ultimate Evolution and NEX cards and easily defeated the Fua duelist in his way. He then further improved his deck before facing Zakira by using the power from Light/Fire cards as well which he got from the deck given to him by Hakuoh before. He also used Shiden Galaxy, Super Champ as this card will connect all three of his decks, Angel Command, NEX Armored Dragons, and Samurai which will also connect his Cross Gears. With this deck, he faced Zakira in an epic battle and brought down his Flying Fortress and retrieved the Duel Masters Proof as well.

Shobu returned and joined the World Championship Duel Tournament where he used new decks and once again faced the Fallen Fua duelist and also witnessed that these Fua duelists were also behind the tragedies of his friends pasts. Finally, Shobu started to get the warnings about Zakira's Resurrection.

Shobu found out about Yaesars purpose and his predictions. Yaesar serves as bringing in knowledge and power into our world from the world of Duel Masters. This time, Yaesar had brought in a new knowledge of Psychic power and Yaesar wants all the finalist to be the first ones to use this knowledge and power in this tournament and so now Shobu gets the new deck and learns how to use the new Psychic Deck. Then Shobu faces another of those special people who have the same power as Shobu to awaken the Awakening Card. Shobu after seeing him remembers Yaesar's prediction about the return of Zakira and surely in the final Zakira returned but Shobu first face off against Xanadu. And finally faces Zakira who also was now using Psychic deck but Shobu had his deck improved as well before facing Zakira and with the new power in his deck Shobu defeats Zakira for the final time.

Shobu as being the world champion now and being a special boy was summoned by the Bronze-Arm Tribe who desperately came into the human world in order to seek Shobu's help as the creature world as being threatened by Diabolos Zeta and is on the verge of complete annihilation because of which the effects on human world could be catastrophic as well as all the cards will go blank and Diabolos Zeta will even start to make his way into human world.

Shobu then met Quixotic Hero Swine Snout who told him about the 5 legendary powers to stop this from happening and Shobu and his friends has to find these powers and learn to them how to use it so then these powers can then all be used together to stop Diabolos Zeta, Temporal Ruler.

Shobu already has the legendary GENJI Double Cross, Temporal Swordsman but he did not know the hidden powers of this creature and he did not even know how to properly use it. Shobu lost against Quixotic Hero Swine Snout and Kokujo but then he trained and perfected his new deck and tried to stop Diabolos Zeta before he awakens but he got defeated. Then Shobu was given more encouragement and was treated by the creatures in the creature world. Shobu then realised that without the power of true friendship he cannot be stopped Shobu gathered all his friends and Reppi Aini who was very emotional towards Shobu and had run away for a time. Went out against the awakened Diabolos Zeta.

Diabolos Zeta told Shobu in the end that he wants to same like Shobu and wants to be friends and be used by someone but because his incredible power he is just being hated instead. So Shobu at that very time asked him to become his friend and that he will use him in his deck. Shobu then brought Diabolos Zeta into the human world and used him in his deck and shared his new power with everyone.

Shobu is the older brother of Katta Kirifuda and when Katta was very young Shobu gave him Raging Dragon Lord as a gift, with Katta later encasing it and wearing it on his neck.

He was first shown in Katta's childhood memories about their happy times before the incident and in Mimi's flashback when she compares how different the two brothers are. Even Yohdel and Bucyake mentioned about him in front of Katta, much to Katta's annoyance. Katta was then being called as Shobu's brother by others until Katta had proven that he was a duelist on his own right and had shown his willingness to fight for others and the creature world, like how Shobu have done in the past.

He made his debut as an adult in the opening in episode 27. It was revealed in episode 32 that years ago, he had almost lost his life in a deadly duel against Adam to save the world of Duel Masters. He somehow managed to survive but lost his memory due to the shock and destruction of the duel location. During the years, devoid of his past memories, he wandered around the world before returning, nothing but a husk of his former self. He got back his memories of being a duelist and his younger brother Katta Kirifuda when he learned about Duel Masters. Despite losing his memories, he was still a very strong duelist.

Shobu made a brief appearance in episode 29. He was in a secluded place in an unknown location and is looking into Katta's duel profile, saying that it had been a while since he had last seen his younger brother. He wondered if Katta had become stronger and how strong is his deck and dueling skills. He also changed Katta's regional tournament location in his duel profile.

Katta being seen as a spitting image of Shobu by Mai

In episode 30, he watched Katta and Dragon Ryu duel against each other in his secret base, commenting that his own younger brother had figured out what is important in a duel and had a long way to go to master and complete his Super Victory Deck. In episode 31, he sent Lulu Takigawa a message, under an alternate name "Mr Match" about Katta's location. During Katta's duel against their mother, Mai Kirifuda, Mai compares Katta as a splitting image of Shobu in his younger years, never giving up and have belief in themselves. He also watched Katta and Lulu with his grandfather, Katsuzo Kirifuda heading to the different location for the final challenge before the nationals in his secret base.

He made his appearance again in episode 42, watching Katta's duel against Gyou in the semi-finals of the tournament and got spotted by Kojiro. Being aware that Benny Haha was involved in an attempt to disable the other finalists of the national tournament, he knocks down Benny Haha before he could execute his second plan of disabling Katta from the competition after Gyou's defeat, ending their villainous plans once and for all. After settling Katta's affairs and watching the finals by television, he wrote and sent a letter to Katta, in which Lulu mistakes to be Katta's letter to her at first until Katta corrects her. He congratulates Katta on his victory, noting that he was glad to see Katta becoming stronger in the final rounds of the tournament. Remembering his younger years and his dueling journey, he reminded Katta that one more person was waiting for him even though he had overcome tough matches and rivals. He noted to Katta that they will see each other again and have another fun duel sometime in the future. He was currently traveling around the world and underwent self-training to regain his skills based by the letter.

The card that caused destruction during his time as a duelists in his younger years was kept sealed in the deep undergrounds of Duel Masters Land, which was later obtained by Basara. He continued to travel around the world to regain his memories and learn more about the ancient creatures, which gave him the knowledge about his family's history and past conflicts.

Shobu camping in a flashback

Before sending his request, he researches about the dragon spirits and found two dragons related to Bloshack; Überdragon King Bolshack which he decides to keep the dragon for himself and Bolshack Dogiragon which was meant for Katta. However, he managed to witness Katta being defeated by a Dokindam X influenced Basara through his surveillance system and decided to help as the situation cannot be ignored.

He sent a letter addressed to Katta regarding the situation related to the secret organization in Duel Masters Land, revealing that he has a card that might be the key to fight the Invaders and his location. Katta accepted his request with enthusiasm as he was the only person left that they can rely on and was awaiting to see him again since their last meeting. When Katta (with Lulu, Hamukatsu, Hokaben, Benchan and Bucyake in tow) heads towards his location, he looked at the night sky, concerned about Katta's safety and the upcoming battle.

He encountered Katta and his friends, with Gyou included despite what happened last time (Gyou working with Benny Haha but Shobu partly disrupted their overall plans in the National Tournament in VS). He explained to Katta about his reasons asking him to visit and gives Katta Bolshack Dogiragon, which he obtained during his travels and research about his own Bolshack Dragon and Katta's Dogiragon, Flaming Revolution. He showed Katta the ancient records and the book he obtained during his travels but swiftly noticed Gyou taking a photo of the record. Suspecting Gyou's true intentions and knowing the limited time both he and Katta have, he managed to deceive Katta to engage in a duel in order to learn how to used the card properly.

During the duel, he decides to go all out on Katta and telepathically communicate to Bolshack NEX (similar to Katta's ability when he was in Victory Mode), though they got into a petty argument about being slow. He remembered the time when he first met Bolshack's spirit and during the time of the battle in Adam's tower. He then summons his new Bolshack trump card, Überdragon King Bolshack by its Gravity Zero effect. He asked the rest of the group to leave them alone, in which his actual intention is for them to stop Gyou's plans and to cheer Katta up from his depression by reminding him of having a fun duel. During the duel, his skills was enough to make Katta use Bolshack Dogiragon's Revolution 0 Trigger ability as the last minute save. Upon seeing the 2 Dogiragons in the duel zone, he was happy to see Katta's growth as a duelist and let himself be defeated. His plan worked as the others managed to stop Gyou's schemes, which results in the organization's plans being foiled again. Before the Revolutionary team leaves, Shobu entrusted the Revolutionary Dragon spirit to Katta, knowing that his brother is worthy to have the card. He also told them to be careful now that the organization have the information of the other Revolutionary Legend card, they will likely be targeted more often.

It was eventually revealed that Benny Haha had been holding a grudge against him for years and wants to get revenge against Shobu and to the extent, Katta for foiling his plans repeatedly by targeting Katta through various schemes, even through the use of targeting Katta's allies. However, his plans of getting revenge were again destroyed by Basara. The grudge was settled by Katta himself during the final battle.

Shobu's main rival Kyoshiro Kokujo was mentioned by Lucifer when he was watching Katta's duel against Kojiro.

Shobu in Versus Revolution Final

He observes Katta and Team Hamukatsu's battle against Basara and Dormageddon X in his secret base. After the dark creature spirit was destroyed by Final Dogiragolden, thus saving Earth from destruction, he was glad to see that Katta was able to accomplish an impossible feat in protecting the Duel Masters World.

During the 7-year gap, his life status was officially changed as he no longer hides under the shadows. He attends his brother's wedding with his father, mother and grandfather. After the ceremony, he was shocked by the revealtion that Joe Kirifuda was Katta and Lulu's child, making Joe his nephew.

When Joe was 8, Shobu visits him and decides to help Joe to improve his dueling skills. He gives some advice to Joe and watches Joe's duel against Kojiro together with Lulu. He even deduced that the shield that Joe had was one of cards he had just drawn, Bainaradoor due to it being placed onto the shield zone by Emeralda, Pitch Dragon Elemental's ability.

Shobu was set to appear in the season, but in a form of his younger self.

Kirifuda brothers reunite in their elementary school selves

When Joe Kirifuda attempts to create dragons by stuffing some of the Kirifuda Family archive photos into Deckie, this results in Joe falling asleep and entering a dream based by the memories and archives of the Kirifuda Family. Shobu was summoned in his elementary school self along with Rekuta and Hakuoh in the middle of their duel. Much to his bewilderment, he encounters his brother Katta in his elementary school self and his future nephew Joe. Shobu was able to recognize Katta despite only seeing him as an infant, much to shock. He even questions Joe, surprised that Joe was Katta's future son.

In the mountain rest stop, Shobu and his brother shows Joe their dragon cards, much to Joe's amazement of seeing actual dragon cards in person. Matching to their competitive personalities, Shobu and Katta got into an argument on who's dragon is the strongest until Deckie summons Katsuzo Kirifuda, Shori Kirifuda and Mai Kirifuda. Eventually the brothers decide to settle the argument in a duel.

Shobu and Katta was amazed by Joe's Jokers, trying out their real life capabilities. He then summarizes his journey during the group session and Joe showcases Deckie's capabilities to create creatures and cards. He watches the duel between Katta and Joe, noting his nephew's dueling strength. In the end party, he was about to pass Joe his Bolshack Dragon but Deckie's had reached its time limit, resulting the created memories to disappear. He briefly appear in both his child and adult self together with his brother, believing that Joe will be able to become friends with dragons before his farewell, in which after then Joe wakes up surrounded by the towering pile of files.

Movies

Shobu recently won the national tournament and got invited to an island for a tournament of Champions. Shobu started dueling against Orpheus and realized that on this island the creatures actually appeared on this island and these creatures can also go out of control. Orpheus told Shobu that after every duelist is defeated their Duel Energy goes to Galzark, Divine Destruction Dragonmech which is held captive here and Orpheus and his sister Electra wants to release this dragon. Shobu was then defeated in his first duel against him.

Later when Shobu woke up he was terrified and didn't have the courage to duel anymore. But Shobu's friends told him not to give up and that they have to stop this from happening. Everyone then took Shobu towards the tallest tower where Orpheus is and on their way they encounter Duel Golems which are actually creature spirits on this island. Everyone told Shobu to keep going and they hold these Golems off for him.

When he got near the tower, Shobu still didn't have enough courage to duel but just then he met his father who gave him the encouragement and gave him Eternal Phoenix, Phoenix of the Dragonflame. Shori told Shobu about their father Agamemnon that he was an old friend and he protected his children but now they under the curse of Galzark. Shobu then made his way to the tower and defeated Orpheus and told him that he and his sister was actually saved by their father and was not left to look after Galzark. And all this time they under the curse of Galzark because of which they were not able to leave the island.

Shobu have won another national tournament but this time with Drag Moon, the Enlightened. Luna Kozuki who have been monitoring Shobu met Shobu as an accident, when actually she did that deliberately to get close to Shobu so she can steal Drag Moon from him. Shobu dueled her and defeated her. Then later took her to his home where she stayed overnight with Shobu and tried to steal the card but in the end, she couldn't because she got a bit attached to Shobu.

Next day Shobu faced Mikado Kozuki in a Kaijudo duel and was almost killed after he lost the duel but luckily he got saved by Luna who then took the card from him and told him that she is Mikado's sister. Next day Shobu had lost all his encouragement in dueling as he was terrified he even threw his deck into the river but Mimi went into the river and got all his cards and deck back. She then gave encouragement to Shobu and told him to become even stronger not weaker and only then you will be able to protect your friends. Shobu then left to get Luna but when he got there she had just lost versus her brother in a duel. She told Shobu before fainting to stop her brother. Shobu got very upset and got very sad and angry but just then Luna's mechanical bird Kororo gave Shobu a God Slayer Rising NEX, the Enlightened to defeat Mikado. Shobu then challenged Mikado in a duel and defeated his God Emperors but in the end, he was still left with another strong God but Shobu Miraculously summoned Bolshack Cross NEX and defeated him. Shobu then brought him back safely and made him change his mind about unleashing the Gods into our world and that if he thinks of doing this because of his sister then Shobu told him that he will look after her from now on.

Shobu and Rekuta are taken to the creature world where they see the Fire Civilization is under attack by the Darkness Civilization, lead by Diabolos Zeta, Annihilation Awakened. On his quest, Shobu finds a new friend Storm Double Cross, Blastdragon (Tornado Chain) and he is no ordinary friend he has a great power in which Shobu believes in but the creature himself doesn't believe in himself. According to a legend, Storm XX Blastdragon has a hidden power which can only be unleashed by the bonds between his friends. So Shobu gives him courage and tells him that he will use his power and bring down this enemy. Now that Shobu has mastered this new power, he has gained his new hidden unleashed power as well. Shobu uses this new power of Storm Kaiser Double Cross, the Awakened Kamikaze and brings down Diabolos Zeta. Shobu also proved by bringing down this enemy that only power does not bring victory but the bonds between each other is what brings courage and that courage will always be victorious.

The original protagonist of Duel Masters manga. He is a boy known to most as the "Duel Fool" due to his love for dueling. He is a rough and direct young man and is almost never polite. He absolutely hates losing. His name comes from "Kirifuda," meaning "Ace" and "Shobu," meaning "Duel."

Magic: the Gathering Saga

At this point in time, Shori Kirifuda was the legendary Magic: The Gathering player and Shobu Kirifuda was his son. After suffering defeat at the hands of Kokujo, he went to the Temple to undergo training. At first, he used a deck of Slivers with the Earthquake sorcery card, utilizing a Red-Green Rush deck. However, after dueling Toru, he decided that it was to his benefit to seal away his Sliver cards.

​Shobu is a fifth-grader by the time the Duel Masters saga begins, and a sixth-grader by the time of the Fighting Edge sequel series. He lives by the words that his father, Shori Kirifuda, taught him: "No matter who wins or loses a duel, your friends will be there," and that as long as he believes in himself, his comrades, his deck, and his Dragons, then he can duel until the very end. His birthday is July 10. On numerous occasions, from his storming of Fua Castle to his bout with Zakira, Shobu has lost because of his poor use of Shield Triggers.

In Fighting Edge he trained in Spain, where he re-encountered his father, Shori Kirifuda and Kokujo. He defeated Richie and along with Esmeralda and his friends, traveled to Egypt. There, he faced Toto and lost to him, but was able to win their second bout. Following that, Dr. Root returned from Japan to participate in the World Tournament. During the World Tournament, he dueled Zakira with his anger pushed beyond its limits from Hakuoh's death. He was pushed into a corner, but using Bolpheus Heaven, Holy Super Dragon and Last Violence he was able to secure victory, and by accepting his true love for Duel Masters with all his heart, he was able to obtain the Duel Masters Proof.

In Star Cross, which is the prequel to the Versus series, Shobu was on a summer vacation while at the same time a fake Xanadu kills every Fua Duelist other than Ash in Antarctica during a mission and Ash pleads Shobu and co. for help. While at first reluctant, Shobu and co. agreed to form a temporary truce with the last Fua Duelists and fight a new enemy.

Shobu and co. went to Antarctica and defeated Apollu and Bakan, then encounters Happening and his guards trying to resurrect Adam. Shobu and co. then climb his tower and defeat all of his guards, by order being Ryoga defeating Sadness, Mimi defeating Terror, Hakuoh defeating Passion and Shobu defeating Happening himself. However, Adam did not have any memory of himself and thus was close to a gag character, but after Shobu and co. defeated all of Adam's guards and Zakira challenging Adam into a duel, Adam regains his memory and defeats and kills Zakira and Ash, then proceed to sink the world into the sea within 20 minutes.

Shobu engages in a final duel with him, invoking Final Storm Double Cross NEX, the Miracle Awakened extra turn condition to win. He then attempts to stop the tower to drill into the Earth's core, though with the help of every duelists creature spirits and willing to live on that the tower stops drilling. Shobu attempts to reach to his recently revived friends, but the tower collapses, seemingly killing Shobu.

Afterwards the search team was deployed but did not found any traces of him. A funeral was then raised, which also involves important political figures and notable members of the Junior Duelist Center, with his final letter being read out by Rekuta. However Shobu actually survived but lost his memories.

Some time after the disaster, a statue was erected in a park as a commemoration of Shobu saving the Duel Masters World as the True Duel Master of the past era. Eventually, his younger brother Katta Kirifuda unofficially succeeded his title years later.

Shobu and his friends go to Duel Island for a tournament and also to search for Zakira's hideabout. Shobu makes new rivals Wataru Sakata and Jura. Shobu faces many difficulties like Duel Computer and Hakuoh. In the end, Shobu gets one step closer to meet the people who arrange this tournament and weather his father's old deck with Bolmeteus Musha Dragon will help him win against his new enemy or not?

Duel Masters Z

12 years after the events of Star Cross, Shobu, who was currently a young adult travels around the world after settling things with Katta. However, he encounters Zakira who was reborn in a new volcano as a new lifeform. Shobu attempts to destroy him by summoning Bolmeteus Steel Dragon. However, he was unable to destroy Zakira and watches in horror when Zakira sworn for revenge against the universe, grew wings and flew in the vastness of space.

Video Games

Shobu was stuck into the creature world because the transportation device was damaged. Shobu sends Pyrofighter Magnus to inform the player about his situation. Shobu does not have very long so he needs help. Knight will assist in helping out in the quest and finally the player will face the culprit behind all of this. In the end before Shobu's last message he was knocked over by Benny Haha and was kidnapped. Then the player has to duel Benny Haha and save Shobu. In the end, in order to become the next Kaijudo Master the player has to defeat another Kaijudo Master, Shobu himself. After the player defeats Shobu he wins the game.

Trivia

His surname's kanji of 切札 (Kirifuda) literally means "The Trump Card", "The Ace Card" or "The Winning Card". His name's kanji of 勝舞 (Shōbu) is a combination of his father's name 勝利 (Shouri) meaning "Victory" and his mother's name 舞 (Mai) means "Dance", thus Shōbu means "Victory Dance" or "Dance of Victory". The pronunciation しょうぶ (Shoubu) is also a pun from (勝負) Shōbu which means "Win (or) Lose" and from there derived the meanings: "Duel".

While chasing Zakira in season 3, Shobu falls into a hole and burns his purple shirt. He later replaces it with an orange one.

As an adult, he shares the same voice actor as Kaito Tenjo from Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal and Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc V. His voice actor Koki Uchiyama also voices Ventus and Roxas in the Kingdom Hearts series.

He was the second main character in the main series to lose his memories in both the anime and manga series after Hakuoh.

He is the second main character of the past generation to return in Katta's generation. The first is Mimi, which was later followed by Benny Haha and Zakira, although Zakira only appeared as a one time character.

In the Versus Saga, he only appear if Katta and his friends were in a dire situation, mostly through relaying his letters/message to them and arranging a place to meet them instead of approaching to them directly. This might likely due to avoiding unwanted attention as he was thought to be gone for more than 10 years, though in a few exceptions if the situation involves his enemies or events that might affect the creature world. This had changed after the timeskip.

In the VS Saga, Shobu's actual skill level is unknown since all duels he performed is to test his brother. However, there were indications that his skills had become rusty due to not having dueled for years and his memory loss, though it was enough to drive his younger brother, who was also an expert duelist to a corner.

In episode 44 of the Versus Revolution Final season of the anime, it was indicated that Shobu works as a civil servant in the defense sector. This might be alluded to his broad experience in both the human and creature world conflicts in his dueling era.

In the manga, Shobu's age in the Versus Saga is 21. This makes him 28 during Katta and Lulu's wedding and 33 during Joe's story saga in Versus Revolution Final.